Metro in Bogota

It is hard to appreciate how useful a metro is in a city unless you have spent an appreciable amount of time in cities that both have and don't have one.

That might sound obvious, but growing up in London, as a child/adolescent I had only the vaguest of notions that most cities did not have a metro.

Metros are very, very useful indeed.

The transmilenio functions as a metro of sorts - the dedicated bus lanes ensure relatively few traffic jams no matter what time of day, and the routes more or less resemble what a metro map would look like. Metro it aint, however.

The buses are considerably smaller than a metro train, they still fall prey to traffic lights, and (put simply) there are not enough at peak times of day. Plus, you can't just stick a transmilenio line anywhere you feel like it (ask anyone on the septima if you don't believe me).

I first asked a student of mine (he was the Colombian Formula 1 commentator, no less) why there wasn't a metro in Bogota.

"It would be waaay too expensive", he explained, "and the ground under Bogota isn't good for it".

My girlfriend's cousin (who is an engineer - who isn't, these days, in Colombia?) elaborated the theme.

"The earth under Bogota is too soft to just build tunnels - they would collapse. It would require massive concrete supports which would be prohibitively expensive. Colombia (let alone Bogota) simply does not have the money for it - and even if it were to (miraculously) scrape the funds together, they would be better spent somewhere else..."

Right then. No metro.

But wait!

The golden child Samuel Moreno all of a sudden seems to think that we can do it. In 2010 no less! Without state funding! (which would kick in in 2016, so they say). Even Uribe said (more or less) "I'm not opposed, in principal, to the idea - as long as studies say it is feasible. But the state isn't funding it until we've finished funding the transmilenio."

Mr. Mockus, an unlikely name, and ex-mayor of Bogota, got his foot in...

"Uribe is talking shit", he announced (I paraphrase), "he just doesn't want to be a party-pooper".

Furthermore, most metros in the world are subsidised by national governments. But not the one in Bogota. Oh no. It would be self-sufficient. A one-way metro ticket will be costing around 350,000 pesos then...

The start-up capital would come from international loans, so El Tiempo says.

Uh-oh...

I think having a metro in Bogota would be lovely - but does "would be lovely" justify massive international loans to build a hugely expensive transport infrastructure that is only semi-necessary in the first place? And, one that will (in all likelihood) be beset with problems, corruption, and very high ticket prices? Why not wait until Colombia can afford it?

Why not close some roads like the septima to traffic completely and have them devoted to transmilenio buses? Why not extend the transmilenio buses to 4 carriages? Why not have trams? Hell, even a monorail would probably be cheaper.

By Leeroy on Nov 9, 2007, 16:14 in Friendly Talkzone.

Simon says on Nov 9, 2007, 16:25:

Bring on the Metro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Leeroy says on Nov 9, 2007, 16:28:

Believe me, Simon, I would love a metro here. It seems as if I may be spending a good few years here in Bogota - and I would give anything to sit in a heated metro carriage.

But, objectively speaking, is it the best thing to spend (borrowed) money on right now?

Simon says on Nov 9, 2007, 16:29:

Besides, who said it has to be underground? It can be an elevated metro, like Medellins.

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Leeroy says on Nov 9, 2007, 16:33:

That would make more sense

msaucey says on Nov 9, 2007, 16:50:

Elevated Metro would make more sense then the TransMilenio... I'm sure at half the cost...

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

jorgegdiaz says on Nov 11, 2007, 08:00:

Why I don´t understand, and forgive me for being naive, is why they´re thinking about another massive transportation system when there is one system that hasn´t been even finished building...
I wasn´t here when Peñaloza first took office, what? 8 years ago?, but I read that he did a lot of good for the city. Golden child seems like an opportunist to me.

Man with hole in pocket feel cocky all day.

Simon says on Nov 11, 2007, 17:42:

"Why I don´t understand, and forgive me for being naive, is why they´re thinking about another massive transportation system when there is one system that hasn´t been even finished building.."

Ummm...maybe because we want Colombia to become more MODERN!!!

HERE'S SIMON!!!!